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WorkSafe releases new forestry guidelines in hopes of reducing harm in the industry

WorkSafe releases new forestry guidelines in hopes of reducing harm in the industry

Forestry had the highest fatality rate of any sector in 2024, prompting new safety guidelines in the hopes of decreasing harm. WorkSafe data shows three forestry-related injuries were investigated from 2021, 2022 and 2024 in Northland. This year, an investigation was also opened into the forestry-related death of a man in Taipuha, west of Waipu in April. The outcome is yet to be determined. And in June, another person was airlifted to hospital after an accident involving tree-felling near Kaikohe, also prompting an investigation. Whangārei’s Forest Protection Services managing director Kevin Ihaka said the changes were “well overdue”. The Approved Code of Practice highlights WorkSafe’s expectations for managing health and safety within the sector. This time around, the guidelines were more relevant and a “lot less prescriptive”, Ihaka said. He felt the new approach allowed managers to control risks on the ground. “We’re such a dynamic environment, it’s nature,” Ihaka said. One day they might have risk management in place but the next day the winds could change direction or the temperature could drop. “The environment changes so quickly, we have to be able to adapt.” Ihaka said health and safety was “very much” taken seriously in Northland. “I mean, if you’re in the forestry industry and you don’t take safety seriously, you’re not going to last long.” He said forestry was dangerous but also under great public scrutiny. Safety was deeply embedded throughout the supply chain, he said. “... And I think the people that invest in our industry also want to know they’re investing in an industry that’s safe. “No one wants to invest in an industry where you’re putting lives at risk.” Ihaka felt the new approach opened up important discussions. “Having the discussions is actually part of having the solution [to safety],” he said. Following an independent review into forestry safety in 2014, there had been a lot of progress around safety, he said. Looking back at the industry 20 years ago, he said there were new machines and practices in place to protect workers. Forest Protection Services had been part of developing the guidelines. “There is always a lot of discussion between the regulator and contractors and employees, but I think we’ve landed in a good place.” He said generally speaking, the feedback from the changes was “overwhelmingly positive”. WorkSafe chief executive Sharon Thompson said the new guidelines were easier to understand and more up-to-date. She said forestry had a fatality rate 20% higher than other industries, and the hope was that the new code would help reduce the level of harm. WorkSafe chief executive Sharon Thompson hopes the simplified and updated Code of Practice will reduce harm within the forestry industry. Photo / WorkSafe WorkSafe data shows forestry had the highest fatality rate of any sector in 2024. Despite Northland having 10.5% of New Zealand’s total harvest, Forest Industry Safety Council data showed it still made up 15% of new forestry-related ACC claims. Thompson said it was a “shared goal” within the industry to reduce harm. “We want everyone to come home from work healthy, happy and safe, and we all need to keep working towards that.” Last year, WorkSafe ran a total of 14 workshops across the country with stakeholders, including unions and frontline workers to help inform the new guidelines. She said inspectors would be out and about during the spring and summer seasons to help inform companies about the new guidelines. She hoped that through engagement, people would better understand the requirements and avoid enforcement action. “We would like to reduce the rate of harm across the industry, and we are one part of the system, so it’s definitely something we would like to see in the long term,” she said. But Thompson said the responsibility for managing the risks in forestry sat squarely with the business first and foremost. Her comments come after Kohurau Contracting were ordered to pay $...

China and US agree to fresh trade talks

China and US agree to fresh trade talks

China and the United States agreed Saturday to conduct another round of trade negotiations in the coming week, as the world’s two biggest economies seek to avoid another damaging tit-for-tat tariff battle. Beijing last week announced sweeping controls on the critical rare earths industry, prompting US President Donald Trump to threaten 100% tariffs on imports from China in retaliation. Trump had also threatened to cancel his expected meeting with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in South Korea later this month on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) summit. In the latest indication of efforts to resolve their dispute, Chinese state media reported that Vice Premier He Lifeng and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had “candid, in-depth and constructive exchanges” during a Saturday morning call, and that both sides agreed to hold a new round of trade talks “as soon as possible”. On social media, Bessent described the call as “frank and detailed”, and said they would meet “in-person next week to continue our discussions”. Bessent had previously accused China of seeking to harm the rest of the world by tightening restrictions on rare earths, which are critical to everything from smartphones to guided missiles. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer also participated in the call, according to the report by Chinese state news agency Xinhua. Hours before the call, Fox News released excerpts of an interview with Trump in which he said he would meet Xi at the Apec summit after all. Trump told the outlet that the 100% tariff on goods from China was not sustainable. “It’s not sustainable, but that’s what the number is... They forced me to do that,” he said. Coordinated response The high-level video call came as Washington worked to rally Group of Seven finance ministers in response to the latest Chinese export controls. For now, the G7 ministers have agreed to co-ordinate a short-term response and diversify suppliers, the EU’s economy commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis told reporters in Washington. Speaking after the grouping met this week, Dombrovskis noted the vast majority of rare earth supplies come from China, meaning that diversification could take years. “We agreed, both bilaterally with the US and at the G7 level, to coordinate our approach,” he said on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank’s fall meetings. Countries would also exchange information on their contacts with Chinese counterparts as they work out short-term solutions, he added. German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil told journalists he hopes that Trump and Xi’s meeting can help to resolve much of the US-China trade conflict. “We have made it clear within the G7 that we do not agree with China’s approach,” he added, referring to the group of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States. International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva also expressed hope Friday for an agreement between the countries to cool tensions. The US-China trade war reignited this year as Trump promised sweeping tariffs on imports soon after returning to office. At one point, US-China tariffs escalated to triple-digit levels, effectively halting some trade as businesses waited for a resolution. The two countries have since lowered their respective levies but their truce has remained shaky. -Agence France-Presse

Police rescue disoriented trampers from Raglan bush

Police rescue disoriented trampers from Raglan bush

A group of “disoriented” trampers have been found after a search and rescue mission was launched in Waikato’s Raglan last night. Police said the trampers became lost in the bush and called for help shortly after 6pm Saturday. “A group of people have become disoriented on a walk in Raglan and have called for help.” RNZ reported that a volunteer rescue team was deployed to find the group and walk them out, and that police had been in phone contact with the group. Police confirmed this morning the group had been located around 10.30pm. It was not immediately clear where in Raglan the group had been tramping.

Formula 1: Liam Lawson avoids chaotic start to take top 10 finish in US Grand Prix sprint race

Formula 1: Liam Lawson avoids chaotic start to take top 10 finish in US Grand Prix sprint race

It might not have yielded any points, but Liam Lawson can be content with a top 10 finish in Formula One’s US Grand Prix sprint race. The Kiwi added another chapter into his impressive record at Austin’s Circuit of the Americas, moving from 15th to ninth over the course of the 19 lap affair. And while he wasn’t able to finish in the points - with sprints rewarding the top eight instead of the top 10 - Lawson can take a moral victory by finishing clear of Racing Bulls teammate Isack Hadjar, who took 12th. The bulk of Lawson’s overtakes came at turn one on the opening lap, where three cars were forced to retire with damage, including both McLaren cars. Lawson, though, was able to avoid any pile-up, and climbed from 15th to 11th, before making up an extra position just shy of halfway through the race. The Racing Bulls driver moved up one more place after the chequered flag, when Ollie Bearman, who crossed the line eighth, was hit by a 10 second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. Looking to complete a late season heist to win a fifth straight world championship, Max Verstappen led from start to finish to bank eight points, aided by the McLarens’ woes. Since the introduction of sprint races, Verstappen has won every shortened affair in Austin. That victory sees Verstappen bank another eight points to eat into Piastri’s advantage at the top of the standings, now down to 55. Fresh from his victory in Singapore, George Russell crossed the finish line second, while Carlos Sainz completed the podium in third. In a chaotic start to the race, neither McLaren cars made it through turn one, Oscar Piastri was clipped by the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg, and then in turn veered into teammate Lando Norris. Amidst the pandemonium, Lawson climbed from 15th to 11th, while Hadjar fell from 12th to 17th, leaving Yuki Tsunoda as the real winner when he rose from 18th to seventh, and into a share of the points, where he’d finish. Lawson, though, appeared to suffer damage to his front wing after he couldn’t avoid tangling with one of the Ferraris in the turn one incident. It wasn’t until lap five when the safety car returned to pit lane to restart the race, despite driver requests for a red flag to clear the debris. Resuming in 11th, Lawson was in range of Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, as he pushed out of Drag Reduction System (DRS) range of Haas’ Esteban Ocon. Antonelli didn’t have Lawson in his mirrors for long, when he got around Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, which left the Kiwi targeting the Alpine to move up a place. One lap later, Lawson did just that, and made use of his DRS to move up into the top 10, making use of the extra speed and then braking late into turn 12 to get around Gasly. With three laps to go, another tangle between Ocon and Lance Stroll saw another safety car, even as the Aston Martin driver attempted to continue with three wheels. However, that meant the race would finish behind the safety car, and brought arguably the most eventful sprint race in Formula One’s history to an end. There will be two more sprint races to conclude the 2025 season, in Brazil and Qatar at the start of November and December respectively. The 20 drivers will return to the grid later on Sunday morning for grand prix qualifying, before the race itself at 8am on Monday (NZ time). US Grand Prix sprint race result Max Verstappen - Red Bull George Russell - Mercedes Carlos Sainz - Williams Lewis Hamilton - Ferrari Charles Leclerc - Ferrari Alex Albon - Williams Yuki Tsunoda - Red Bull Kimi Antonelli - Mercedes Liam Lawson - Racing Bulls Pierre Gasly - Alpine Gabriel Bortoleto - Sauber Isack Hadjar - Racing Bulls Nico Hulkenberg - Sauber Franco Colapinto - Alpine Ollie Bearman - Haas Did not finish: Esteban Ocon - Haas, Lance Stroll - Aston Martin, Oscar Piastri - McLaren, Lando Norris - McLaren, Fernando Alonso - Aston Martin Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.

Master tattooist warns of botched jobs as ACC claims top 500 per year

Master tattooist warns of botched jobs as ACC claims top 500 per year

Tattoo-related injuries are behind hundreds of ACC claims every year, costing the country hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. One woman told the Herald that her tattooist husband last month repaired the tattoos of a man who nearly had both legs amputated two years ago due to the severity of his post-tattoo infection. So far this year, 484 new claims have been made for injuries where the accident description contained the words tattoo, ta moko and moko kauae. Last year, there were 544 claims. No specific qualifications are required for tattoo artists in New Zealand. Close call with amputation Muliagatele Stella Taupau-Palea told the Herald that in September her husband, Auckland master tattooist Tulou’ena Mareko, had had to repair a traditional tatau gone wrong. The man’s horror story began in 2023 when he travelled to Samoa to receive his pe’a (traditional tattoo), she said. She said the man – whom the Herald has tried to contact – described deeper-than-usual cuts and excess blood, followed by serious infection. The man self-discharged from a Samoan hospital after being told he would have to have both legs amputated due to the extent of his post-tattoo infection, Muliagatele said. Her husband fixed the man's tatau last month after he had completed a two-year recovery, she said. Image / Tulouena Mareko Tatau He was admitted to Moto’otua Hospital near Apia and told by doctors that infection had spread into his blood and his legs would need to be amputated, she said. The Samoa Observer reported that the man’s faulty tattoos were “incomplete and improperly done” by an unqualified tattooist, and were in need of corrective work. “[He] escaped the hospital and went straight to the airport to catch the first flight out to Auckland,” Muliagatele said. Samoan master tufuga Li'aifaiva Imo Levi has tattooed many famous Samoans, including Labour MP Carmel Sepuloni. Photo / Michael Craig On arrival, an ambulance was waiting. Muliagatele said it then took the man two years to heal enough to seek a new tufuga – her husband – to complete his pe’a in South Auckland last month. Customary tatau Customary tatau, pe’a and malu, are considered a rite of passage and a source of pride for many Samoans, some of whom consider it both a physical and a spiritual process. It can be gruelling and painful, involving tools traditionally made from bone and pigs’ tusks. CJ Stowers proudly wears the traditional tatau of his forefathers. File photo / Stuart Munro With each tap, blood is drawn: modern tattooing equipment is often frowned upon for pe’a and malu – the pain and stamina would not be the same. For men, pe’a generally cover the abdomen, buttocks, lower back, and legs to below the knees. The women’s equivalent, known as the malu, runs the length of a woman’s thighs to just below her knees. Former Hurricanes player Lome Fa'atau shows off his pe'a. File Photo / Ross Setford Samoans wearing the pe’a and malu include former heavyweight boxer To’aletai David Tua, rapper Scribe, former Hurricanes and Manu Samoa star Lome Fa’atau, ex-Silver Fern Sulu Fitzpatrick, and Labour MP Carmel Sepuloni, who was the Deputy Prime Minister when she received her malu tatau in 2023. ‘It’s scary: this is not unique’ Auckland Council and the Ministry of Health offer detailed customary tattooing guidelines, outlining what a tufuga (tattooist) must do before, during and after tattooing. Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni shows off her traditional Samoan tattoo, the malu. Photo / Michael Craig They both stress the cleanliness of the work area. Ink containers should be one-use only, separate tools should be used on each client – and should be sterilised thoroughly. Master tattooist Li’aifaiva Imo Levi is the tufuga of choice for many Samoans in New Zealand and Australia: he tattooed Tua and Sepuloni, as well as Sol3 Mio tenor Amitai Pati. He told the Herald he too has had to step in and fix botched jobs, and stressed the need for people to choose their tattooist w...

New mobile abattoir upsets homeowner distressed by sight of slaughterhouse on wheels

New mobile abattoir upsets homeowner distressed by sight of slaughterhouse on wheels

An Auckland couple say a makeshift abattoir that began operating next door has turned 25 years of peaceful rural living into regular scenes of distress and “carnage”. Dairy Flat homeowner Kevin Bell said an abattoir-on-wheels now rolled into the next-door paddock most weeks to kill a small number of his neighbour’s sheep and cattle. Bell said he wanted answers about how a “commercial slaughterhouse” could be set up so close to his Blackbridge Rd home and in view of his lounge window. Auckland Council and the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) confirmed they had each received a complaint and were looking into the matter. Bell said he didn’t pay council rates on his $1.8 million, 4ha property “to look at an abattoir”. “Now I get to watch 300-plus animals killed 6m outside my boundary each year.” Neighbour David Taylor said the number of slaughtered animals was more likely to be about 100 annually. Taylor said he’d tried to minimise disruption by offering to build an embankment to shield the operation from Bell’s view but that his offer was rebuffed. The truck visiting Taylor’s property is understood to be the first of its kind in New Zealand. If the model takes off, the pair’s clash could be the first of more backyard abattoir stoushes elsewhere in the country. Farm-to-table: Will mobile abattoirs become more common? Truck owner Logan Wait, who started company Earth First, said he was working with NZ Food Safety with the aim of rolling the model out widely. It needed to first prove to MPI the operations were safe. His truck had been travelling from Hawke’s Bay to Northland to test the concept, with the Herald reporting in August how it was being used at Kaipara’s Danbri Farm to produce a new premium meat brand. Taylor was also one of a handful farmers licensed to harvest and sell his own meat directly to the public. Kevin Bell says he wants answers on how a "commercial slaughterhouse" could be set up on his boundary fence. Photo / Michael Craig He said he was hiring the mobile truck to kill about three to four of his own animals each fortnight for sale at his Dairy Flat shop, The Local Farmer Butchery. The concept had great support from customers, he said. “Everyone’s getting right behind it. “They’re buying local – they’re buying animals that are farmed just up the road from where they live, which people seem to like.” It was also opening new opportunities for farmers by “cutting the big boys out … the supermarkets have held us all over a barrel for so long”. Supporters of the model also say avoiding trucking animals to big abattoirs reduced stress and improved their meat. The whole thing is quite disturbing: Bell However, Bell believed the stress was being transferred on to his family and his own sheep and cattle. “The whole thing is quite disturbing to be honest – my wife doesn’t enjoy seeing it happening and neither do I. “My stock walking up and down my land watching their brethren being killed on the other side of the fence isn’t cheering anybody up either.” The operation occurs about 150m-200m from Bell’s window but close to his property’s boundary. Races are used to move animals into position to be killed behind screens, with the meat kept inside the covered truck. Bell claimed he could hear the “rifle shot” used to kill animals as well as the noise of generators. He said he had also seen offal and other waste being put into rubbish bins and worried blood could be draining into waterways. Wait and Taylor said they had licences to operate and that each kill was dictated by a registered risk management programme that included having a veterinarian or meat inspectors present. The mobile abattoir also visits Danbri Farm in the Kaipara, where a family-run regenerative property uses it to create a premium Angus beef brand. Photo / Michael Craig Given the model was a new one, Wait and Taylor said they were keen to work with neighbours like Bell to make improvements. Taylor said he’d “bent over backwards” to help Bell...

Mega strike: Public sector is walking off the job on October 23 as Judith Collins fires back

Mega strike: Public sector is walking off the job on October 23 as Judith Collins fires back

A bulk of some of society’s most important workers - from doctors, nurses, teachers, prison staff and other healthcare personnel - will walk off the job next Thursday in a mega industrial strike tipped to be the largest in New Zealand in recent history. An estimated 100,000 workers from the public sector - also including dentists, social workers, physiotherapists and mental health staffers - are set to be involved, as they take a stand for better pay and conditions, as well as raising concerns around safe staffing levels. Public Service Minister Judith Collins, meanwhile, has released an open letter to anyone who will be impacted by the strikes and said they appeared to be “politically motivated by the unions”. Who is striking? About 17,000 health members with the Public Service Association are taking part in the strike on October 23. They are made up of allied health staff, mental and public health nurses, home support workers and policy, knowledge, advisory and specialist workers who want fair pay, safe staffing and improved conditions to give what they say is quality care patients deserve. Why are they striking? PSA national secretary Fleur Fitzsimons said its members were standing up for safe staffing and for the public health service. “We have been heartened by the overwhelming support from the public for the strikes, and we know that the protests on the day will be an expression of solidarity between workers in health, education ... and the public they serve. “These workers have not taken strike action lightly, but consider they have a responsibility to stand up for the health service they know New Zealanders need.” PSA general secretary Fleur Fitzsimons. Photo / Sylvie Whinray Health NZ’s pay offers have been criticised by senior doctors, with the PSA describing a 2 per cent rise, followed by a 1.5 per cent increase over a 30-month period as being well below inflation. “The pay offers are effectively pay cuts during a cost-of-living crisis. We risk losing more health workers to Australia,” the PSA said. There are not enough health workers to provide the level of care Kiwis need and, to make up numbers, staff were often having to pull double shifts. “They can’t give their best to patients when they’re so thinly stretched and burnt out.” The NZ Educational Institute has confirmed more than 40,000 of its members will strike for extra classroom support for children with diverse learning needs. More than 20,000 unionised secondary and area school teachers are also involved in the mega strike due to a lack of progress with collective agreement negotiations, the Post-Primary Teachers’ Association confirmed earlier this month. A 1% pay rise offer from the Government, in August, had also served as a trigger; dubbed by the PPTA as “appalling” and the lowest increase in a generation. Underpaid and understaffed, workers ‘infuriated’ Allied health workers strike in Auckland in 2022. Photo / RNZ, Felix Walton NZ Council of Trade Unions president Richard Wagstaff said the strike action was in response to a centralised government strategy to hold down wages below inflation and to cut resources to the public service. He said the wide range of professional workers had been negotiating for more than a year, in some cases. The only response they had received, he said, was from employers wanting them to be locked into a long-term agreement with pay adjustments under inflation. “And they’ve given them no proper response to the resource issues - the short staffing, the breaking down of equipment and so on. “They know that by cutting wages and by basically having people overworked and underpaid, it really risks the workforce dissipating and leaving for better places, particularly Australia.” Wagstaff said it was unfair and “quite infuriating” for workers, given that the Government has said it would address the cost-of-living crisis. “And here they are telling their own workers - their essential workers who keep everything running - tha...